


Space

by fuckthenaysayers



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Astronauts, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-22
Updated: 2014-03-22
Packaged: 2018-01-16 13:05:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1348516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fuckthenaysayers/pseuds/fuckthenaysayers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His world on Earth really started to change though, when he met Michael. It was purely by chance, or maybe moreso fate. Gavin had flown to the United States with his crew to meet with some people from NASA, the two space agencies always having a good connection with each other. It was there that he met Michael Jones, a well-liked and feisty flight controller. He was loud and quick to anger, and Gavin fell for his scowl as well as his smile almost instantly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Gavin loved space. Like truly, truly loved it. Every last bit of it fascinated him, ever since he was a child. Where some kids fell in love with video games, or dinosaurs, he fell for space and the planets and stars. One of his earliest memories was visiting his grandparents off on some of England’s countryside and when they left it was already pitch black. And being so far from the cities kept most of the unnatural light away, which let him see one of the most beautiful sights he’d ever come across at that young age - a sky full of bright stars, more than he could possibly hope to count. It was enough to spark an interest, and it only grew from there.

While other kids asked for expensive game consoles for Christmas, he begged for a high powered telescope. When his classmates groaned at a field trip to the planetarium, he was on a level of excitement that most people reserved for roller coasters. Anything he could do to further expand his knowledge on space he did, and luckily for him there was an exorbitant amount of things he’d yet to learn, and even more being discovered every day. It shocked no one in his family when he declared at age 14 that he wanted to become an astronaut, and his mother, who’d watched her little boy fall in love with the stars since he was 6, agreed to help him anyway she could.

It wasn’t an easy or short road, once Gavin finally graduated from high school, immediately off he was to university, set on getting a bachelor’s degree in biological science. He’d never been a particularly good student, but he was so set on fulfilling his dream that he’d never tried harder in his life. His 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st birthdays passed without a single drink, the man not having a single sip of beer until the day he graduated, finally letting himself celebrate. His journey to his dream was still far from over, moving on and then focusing on getting his master’s which he followed with finding a job to get his last two years of experience needed. He would’ve been alright possibly with just his bachelor’s, but an advanced degree was more desirable, and if it meant even a bit more possible chance of him being chosen, he’d do it.

He was 26 when he decided to not only try and qualify as a mission specialist, but as a pilot too. Which meant a good year was spent getting his pilot’s license and then moving up to flying jets, getting well over the 1000 hours requirement. By the time the European Space Agency was accepting applications for astronauts, Gavin was 28, and more than ready. Though he’d never admit it, when he got his accepting call he cried with joy.

He passed the physical with flying colors, though he had some trouble with the space sickness simulator. He worked through it, and finally it happened. He was recruited by the ESA, set to pilot the next shuttle out to space. It took a few months but finally, after years of dreaming, Gavin Free was in space. The ride up was intense and terrifying, but Gavin was in full control, reaching orbit with no difficulties. It took them only a day to reach the International Space Station and align well enough to connect. As Gavin finally left the small shuttle, he stared in awe as he entered the station with his small crew, floating through the door.

They stayed there for a couple months until it was time to try heading back, which, in all honesty, was the last thing Gavin wanted to do. This was all he dreamed of, the vast expanse of space mere inches from him, seperated by the walls of the station. Still, he had a job to do, and if the landing went well that meant a higher possibility of him being sent again. His crew piled back in their shuttle, and relucantly, made their way back.

The landing went off without a hitch, gaining Gavin the full respect of his coworkers and crew. What he didn’t expect though, was the intense adoration that came from the news soon after, being hailed as one of the most skilled shuttle pilots to date. The fact that he was young and attractive helped to, becoming a worldwide sensation overnight. The popularity wasn’t something he was used to, having spent most of his school days with his nose buried in a book, and he found himself slowly growing to love it. It wasn’t so bad on Earth now, though the quiet ache to head back to space still lingered in his mind.

His world on Earth really started to change though, when he met Michael. It was purely by chance, or maybe moreso fate. Gavin had flown to the United States with his crew to meet with some people from NASA, the two space agencies always having a good connection with each other. It was there that he met Michael Jones, a well-liked and feisty flight controller. He was loud and quick to anger, and Gavin fell for his scowl as well as his smile almost instantly.

"So, Michael, what role are you exactly?"

Gavin couldn’t stop the goofy smile on his face as he chatted with Michael, over the moon with himself for having worked up the nerve to ask him to drinks after they and their coworkers had dinner. Michael looked up from his bottle of lone star, smiling contently.

"I’m a capsule communicator, the main one usually, I get a lot of shifts."

He laughed wryly, the tiredness clearly showing in his eyes but he didn’t start to complain.

"I was training to be an astronaut of course, but ended up on the back up crew, and then somehow got roped into the flight control room. I could also take over for one of the engineer roles, if needed."

"I didn’t realize they used other astronauts for such tasks!"

Michael shrugged.

"I mean, my background has always been in engineering, I think I actually enoy working in the flight control room more than I would being up there."

"So why did you want to become an astronaut anyway?"

"I dunno, why does anyone? For me, I guess it was just the story. I mean, less than 600 people have been in space, to be able to experience that is like, one of those things you’d tell your grandkids about until they can repeat the story by heart. Why did you want to become one?"

"I just love space. Always have, like literally, I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t just bloody in love with the moon and stars and galaxies and such. Going up there was literally my whole life’s dream come true."

Michael was smiling playfully, feeling a bit enamored with Gavin’s refreshingly innocent response.

"Guess you gotta work on a new dream now."

The Brit looked a little surprised, as though only just realizing that yes, he had achieved what he wanted. He smiled back, grabbing his beer.

"Guess so."

—

Neither of them would be able to put an exact moment after that as to when they properly ‘got together’, but the fact of the matter was that they went back to Michael’s that night, and then every night more while Gavin was visiting. By the time he’d left, the two had grown so close that, despite still not knowing each other terribly well, decided to be together. The distance made it strange, neither of them had been in a long distance relationship before, but they worked it out.

It was four months in that Michael came to visit Gavin, spending a week off together, deepening their physical relationship as much as their emotional and mental one had been growing from their constant texts and video chats. Even when Michael had to head back home, they were more in tune with each other than ever.

A year into their relationship, Gavin visited the states again, but purely to visit Michael. The lack of a work-related reason got the news interested, and in a matter of days they were found out, blurry photos of them out to eat or at the pool together plastered over every tabloid generous enough to buy up the pics. After much deliberating, and a long phone call with work, Gavin announced that he and Michael were in fact dating, and that he was gay.

The backlash was small, instead the two being lauded with praise and support from almost everyone. The first openly gay living astronaut was quite a title, after all, and one Gavin found himself more and more proud to have. He was boosted to the status of celebrity over time, appearing on a few talk shows when he wasn’t back at work. Michael moved to the UK and was instantly recruited with the ESA, the two being one of the most buzzing bits of gossip on everyone’s lips for a while.

As sudden fame often did, it died down after a while. Both of them were rather welcome to the chance to be normal again, and lived as perfectly normal as an astronaut and flight control person could. Gavin was sent up again twice more, one time for a few months span at the ISS, and another for just a couple weeks. He ran various tests with his fellow crew, having no problems. When he came back down again safe and sound, it happened to be the two year anniversary of him meeting Michael. So of course they went out to dinner.

Michael proposed, and Gavin’s ‘yes’ was instant and joyful.

They got married a few months later, able to stay in that honeymoon-type bliss for a good few months afterward until he was requested for a specific mission. The ESA was planning to try and trounce the record for the longest solo orbital flight, to test their more modern spacecraft’s abilities. Of course Gavin was more than happy to do it, the chance to have his name truly remembered in the history books for something was plenty encouragement. Michael was less than agreeable.

"This is fucking stupid. You’re gonna kill yourself like this."

"Don’t say that, of course I won’t! Nothing the ESA have made have failed me so far, has it?"

"You’re in their shuttle for a day at most each time! They want you to stay in it for 8 days, I mean Bykovsky’s record is 5 days, they’re just trying to fucking show up the old Soviet record because he was meant to stay up that long."

"So I could definitely do it then."

"Doesn’t mean you have to! It’s their fucking pissing contest, why do you have to be dragged into it?!"

"Because, Michael. It’s my job. I’m a bloody astronaut and they want to send me up into space and you’re asking ‘why’."

Michael scowled, staring daggers at his husband as the man stayed glued to the couch, laptop on the coffee table in front of him.

"They’re not sending you on a mission, they’re sending you to your fucking death."

With that, Michael stormed out, grabbing his jacket and heading off to who knows where from their little flat in the middle of London. Gavin knew he should go after him, but he stayed put, set in his own decision.

It was a couple weeks later when the time came, Michael and Gavin still a bit prickly with each other. Still, they kissed goodbye and murmured their ‘i love you’s before Gavin got settled in his solo shuttle, and soon after took off. The world was watching him with baited breath, a collective sigh of relief coming from everyone watching the news as they announced him reaching orbit safely. Now all they could do, was wait.

—

As Gavin broke the record, the flight control room rejoiced, celebration going on as Gavin listened in from his solo shuttle. It was a little lonely, but he knew when he went back down he and Michael would celebrate thoroughly. All that was left was to hold on a couple more days and then head back home.

Unfortunately, things weren’t going quite as planned. An unforeseen technical problem suddenly showed up, Gavin doing his best to fix it with what he had. The capsule communicator on call tried to help talk him through it as someone called Michael, just to be safe in case something went even more wrong.

And it did.

One problem became three, and suddenly an alarm was blaring, demanding immediate landing which was a less than easy thing to do right now. Gavin had gone past the point of panic, in an almost serene mode as he tried to keep calm and come to terms with what was happening.

"Gavin, come in, can you still hear us? What’s happening?"

The sound of the capsule communicator’s voice was choppy, digital interference from one of the malfunctioning machines making it difficult to understand. Michael had just arrived, snatching a headset from one of the flight controllers in time to hear Gavin replying.

"Everything’s happening, craft is malfunctioning, I think I need to come down early. I don’t know how it’ll go, tell Michael I love him."

"I’m here, Gav, I love you too. Please, be safe."

Michael’s voice was shaky, but Gavin heard him loud and clear. He was going to reply but stopped himself, unable to promise Michael something he clearly wasn’t going to be able to fully promise. Static cut in and out as Gavin tried to talk them through what he did, until at some point it cut completely, his communication circuit dead.

"Gavin can you hear us? Your circuit’s dead, there’s something wrong with the communication system in your craft."

The flight control room was silent as they listened as long as they could for a response, Gavin having no clue he’d lost them as he started his procedure, their feed on the shuttle eventually getting cut out fully as Gavin began his emergency return to Earth.


	2. Chapter 2

"..in.."

"...gv..."

"...Gavin... cn hr..."

Gavin blinked slowly, eyes squinting as sunlight blinded him slightly. Something blocked the light and he blinked a couple times more, finally focusing on what was in front of him. It was one of the flight control people he sort of recognized, a few other people surrounding them, mumbling things he couldn't quite hear.

"Gvin, can y hear me?"

His ears felt popped, the voice of the man in front of him a bit fuzzy but he could understand most of it.

"A-Am I on Earth?"

Gavin asked, a chorus of relieved laughter from the people standing above him their first reply.

"Well I'm certainly not some alien if that's what you're getting at. Do you remember what happened?"

The lanky man's brows scrunched a bit, thinking hard as he tried to recall what happened before he seemed to just blank out. His eyes went wide with realization as it all came rushing back to him.

"The craft had a malfunction and I had to have an emergency return. I...I guess I made it back alright, eh? Last I remember was knockin my head on something and it was bloody lights out for me..."

"You had a perfect landing, the autopilot really came through there I guess. Looks like maybe a bit of debris clocked you on the head when you came in for re-entry, but other than that you look alright."

Gavin took a deep breath, the first one he really registered as his first breath back on Earth and sighed, relief washing over him. He stood up, with the other people's help and brushed himself off, looking around at the airstrip that he'd landed on.

"Where are we?"

"Not far from the ESA headquarters, I'd say to head back but I'm pretty sure Michael and a few others are on their way."

"Michael... ohhh lord, he's going to be so upset with me."

"Well to be fair he'll be far less upset than he could be..."

A car pulled up a little while later, Michael bounding out of it and heading straight for Gavin. The man braced to get hit, eyes scrunching shut, only to find himself toppling over with sudden weight, Michael having essentially tackled him to the ground. Lips were on his, frantic, shaky kisses pressed to Gavin until the Brit realized just what was happening and finally returned them. He sat up a bit and Michael pulled away, tugging off his glasses and rubbing away the beginnings of tears from his eyes.

"You're lucky you made it back in one piece you know, I would never have let you live it down in the afterlife."

Gavin chuckled a little, smiling lovingly and pulling Michael close.

"Believe me I know. I think I've had enough space travel for my lifetime now, so get ready for me to drive you absolutely mental here on Earth."

Michael laughed a little, a relieved smile finally spreading across his face.

"I can't wait."


End file.
